Articles/News with budget cuts tag

School bus service to geographically remote areas will continue through the end of the school year at Lake Elsinore Unified School District. The board had earlier approved temporary bus service, for the first semester, for nearly 2,200 students who live in remote areas.

At this year’s conference in Memphis, Tenn., Max Christensen will become president of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services. He plans to keep the association focused on changes in technology, build upon its relationship with other industry groups and work on growing its ties to federal-level agencies.

Davenport Community Schools board members vote 4 to 2 against the cuts, which would have expanded walk zones, eliminated paid-conditional busing and ended bus rides to babysitters and child care facilities. The district faces the task of cutting $3 million from its budget next school year.

Officials at Mesa County Valley School District say the change is “the result of further budget reductions the district is facing.” School bus service will be provided for elementary students who live more than two miles from school and for middle and high school students who live more than three miles from school.

Petaluma City Schools makes the change in response to the $3.3 million in budget cuts it will face if a tax initiative is not passed in November. The district partners with a city transit service to provide transportation for the students affected.

The changes at Washington Community Schools will take effect Aug. 14 and are made in response to state budget constraints. Officials say the routes now have designated stops within an area or region throughout the city limits, and buses will no longer do door-to-door stops, among other new policies.

Temporary school bus routes will serve nearly 2,200 Lake Elsinore Unified School District students who live in remote areas. The district had decided earlier in the year to cut regular-ed transportation, but officials now say that about $350,000 in one-time funding is available to restore limited busing.

Officials from the American Association of School Administrators say sequestration represents budgetary cuts that will impact almost every federal program in January 2013, including cuts to education. Survey results in the report indicate that the cuts will translate to reductions in and eliminations of personnel, curriculum, facilities and operations.

As part of efforts to tackle a transportation budget shortfall of $17 million, the Hawaii Department of Education identifies 103 school bus routes to be eliminated. The move affects nearly 2,400 students.

The San Bernardino City Unified board reverses its earlier decision to increase the walking distance for elementary school students. Also, high school transportation — which was to be eliminated — will stay intact for the next school year.

Union County Public Schools in Maynardville stops the service for all students except those with special needs and those in pre-kindergarten due to an approximately $200,000 budget shortfall. Parents are reportedly sent a letter saying that students who don't attend the last week of school will be considered absent, but parents facing a "transportation hardship" can appeal their children’s absences.

The New York State School Boards Association and the New York State Association of School Business Officials survey 403 districts. They are making cuts in numerous areas, including transportation, to keep their budget proposals for the upcoming school year within the state’s new property tax cap.

State lawmakers set aside 38% less than the requested $42 million for school transportation for the upcoming school year. The state Board of Education Finance and Infrastructure Committee meets to discuss options to address the shortfall, including reducing bus service.

The Illinois State Board of Education is expected to draft a bill that would eliminate the requirement for public school districts to transport students and base state-to-district reimbursements on an average per-student or per-mile rate. Districts could charge parents a fee to make up the difference between the state reimbursement and the actual cost of transporting students.

Union County Public Schools in Maynardville may cut the service for eight days at the end of the school year to offset the district’s $200,000 budget shortfall. The board of education will review options at a May 3 meeting.

In the American Association of School Administrators’ new survey, respondents project new budget cuts in the 2013-14 school year, though the cuts may not be as deep as in the earlier years of the recession. About two-thirds of school districts surveyed eliminated positions in 2011-12.

The Parkland School District says it has the potential to generate about $150,000 in a year by selling 16 ad spaces inside a pilot fleet of 46 school buses. The signs will be made of a magnetic material and secured just above the bus windows.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed Senate Bill 81, which replaces the $248 million that was cut for the service with an across-the-board revenue limit reduction at all school districts in the state for the 2011-12 fiscal year. Mike Rea of the California Association of School Transportation Officials tells SBF this is welcome news, but he notes that more work must be done to restore funding for the long term, and he shares the association’s efforts to this end.

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